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"Tell me a funny story to take my mind off the walk,” I asked, once again not recognizing myself with this man. It somehow made it easier, to talk to this person I couldn't see, someone who didn't know me, who couldn't be disappointed with me.
"Hmmm, a funny story…"
My heartbeat had finally calmed as I got within three blocks of home. A little longer and I'd be there.
"Well, one time I got knocked out. They took me to the hospital and they put me in one of those hospital gowns that tie in the back. I guess when I woke up, I got out of the hospital bed, still loopy as hell, and decided that the gown was scratching me. So I stripped it off and proceeded to drag my I.V. out into the hallway, showcasing my goods to everyone in the wing before they finally got me back into my room.”
I giggled, imagining some guy streaking through the hospital wing. “I'm sure it was quite a hit with the nurses," I teased.
"Oh, no doubt. I think they made up excuses to keep me at the hospital the whole week after seeing the family jewels."
"For sure. Especially if you had those abs back then."
"Nope. It was the wrinkly old balls that definitely had them going," he teased.
My fingertips went up to my lips, tracing the smile plastered on my mouth. In my nineteen years on this earth, my most prevalent emotion had been sadness. Even as a little girl, I hadn’t been the type to laugh with friends. I’d always had something serious to think about. And just in the brief amount of time I’d been talking to this guy—whose voice did not sound like he was a scary old man creeping on me, by the way—I was smiling constantly.
Fuck.
I got to my building, walking through the gate and breathing a sigh of relief that I was almost safe behind my door.
"Well, I made it to my place," I murmured.
"Good girl," he whispered back with a husky growl. And fuck. If I thought that reading those words did something to me, it was nothing compared to hearing his voice say it. It hit my insides, sending tingles between my legs, having a physical effect on me.
"I'm going to bed," I told him, my voice sounding shaky and unsure.
"Lock your door behind you," he ordered. I nodded my head up and down, taking a second to remember he couldn't see me, that's how much I felt his presence surrounding me.
"Okay."
I heard some voices in the background and wondered what he was doing.
"I gotta take care of something, but you get some rest. I'm so glad you called."
"Thanks for picking up," I whispered.
"Always," he answered, and even though he couldn't have meant it, I felt like there was a promise in his words. Like he, unlike every single person who had always disappointed me in my life, was promising he wouldn't.
"Good night," I said, forcing myself to end the call because I could feel myself getting fucking attached, which was the last thing I needed to be doing.
"Good night, dream girl," he said in a thickened accent.
And then the phone clicked off.
I walked into my apartment and then locked it behind me…before sliding down the wall, my hands clutching my cell phone like a lifeline.
Dream girl…
CHAPTER 8
LINCOLN
"So, have you met the mystery girl yet?" Ari asked, throwing a puck at me as I slid on my skates.
I caught it and grinned. "Soon."
He raised an eyebrow. "So you’re still talking to her? Dude. Don't be surprised when you find out your mystery girl is actually a 60-year-old nudist named Frank."
